Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN) has invited Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur for the Palestinian territories, whom the Biden administration has repeatedly condemned as antisemitic and unfit for her position, to Capitol Hill to brief congressional staff next week.

Albanese has a long track record of statements and comments that the Biden administration and lawmakers have described as antisemitic. The administration has also accused her of excusing and justifying the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

An invitation for the event, scheduled for next Tuesday, circulated by Carson’s office on Friday and obtained by Jewish Insider, says that Albanese “will address the current human rights landscape in the Palestinian territories, sharing findings from her recent reports and discussing urgent areas for action.” 

The invitation says the “briefing offers congressional staff an invaluable perspective on conditions affecting the Palestinian people, highlighting specific civil rights issues, limitations on movement, and humanitarian access challenges.”

Albanese was condemned by Biden administration officials as recently as Oct. 15, over comments comparing Israel to the Nazi regime.

“Antisemitism has no place at the UN, especially from those tasked with promoting human rights,” Michèle Taylor, the U.S. permanent representative to the U.N. Human Rights Council, said in a statement. “Francesca Albanese’s recent remarks, including evoking Nazis, show yet again that she is unfit for any role at the UN. The U.S. has never supported her mandate, and her conduct is unacceptable.”

In July, responding to comments from Albanese comparing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said, “it is clear [Albanese] is not fit for this or any position at the UN,” and accused her of antisemitism.

Taylor said that Albanese’s “comparison of Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler is reprehensible and antisemitic​. There should be no place for such dehumanizing rhetoric. Special rapporteurs should be striving to improve human rights challenges, not inflame them.”

In February, Albanese denied that the Oct. 7 massacre was motivated by antisemitism, saying, “The victims of 7/10 were not killed because of their Judaism, but in response to Israel’s oppression. France & the international community did nothing to prevent it.”

Taylor responded that Albanese has a “history of using antisemitic tropes” and that  Albanese’s comments “justifying, dismissing and denying the antisemitic undertones of Hamas’ October 7 attack are in and of themselves antisemitic.”

A State Department spokesperson told JI at the time that Albanese’s comments were “reprehensible and irresponsible.”

The French and German governments have also condemned Albanese for antisemitism.

“To justify the horrific terror attacks of 7/10 & deny their antisemitic nature is appalling,” the German Foreign Office said in a statement in February. “Making such statements in a UN capacity is a disgrace and goes against everything the United Nations stand for.”

U.S. officials had previously condemned Albanese in 2022 over past comments, prior to her time as the special rapporteur, in which she claimed that America is “subjugated by the Jewish lobby.”

State Department antisemitism envoy Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt described Albanese’s comments as “blatant antisemitic rhetoric” and part of “an established pattern.”

“It severely undermines the credibility of the UN Human Rights Special Rapporteur to deal with the issue of human rights in the context of Israel & the Palestinian territories,” Lipstadt said.

Taylor said the comments played into an “age-old trope” and were “outrageous, inappropriate, corrosive, & degrades the value of the UN.”

Carson spokesperson Caroline Ellert did not address the controversy surrounding Albanese, saying in a statement, “A UN official will be briefing Congressional staffers to report on the situation on the humanitarian crisis.”

Twice in 2023, bipartisan groups of Carson’s House colleagues called for Albanese’s removal over her “Jewish lobby” comments and what they described as her refusal to condemn terrorist attacks in Israel and criticism of Israel following those incidents.

A recent report by the pro-Israel watchdog group UN Watch called for sanctions on Albanese, accusing her of antisemitism, support for terrorism, downplaying the Oct. 7 attack, financial misconduct and undisclosed conflicts of interest.